Legend of the White Lion
by Kyu No Ken
Summary: Tired of the chaos his life contained by choices unmade by him, a wish was made in order to escape it and start anew as he becomes a legend in all of china.
1. Chapter 1

I know that the beginning of this story was used in a previous story of mine, but it didn't quite work out, so I'm going to use it again for this one. A Ranma/Kung Fu Panda where Po is being replaced by Ranma as the dragon warrior but still serves noodles (those wonderful noodles!), anyway, it still follows the same story line of Kung Fu Panda with a twist, enjoy.

( # ) – A/N will be explained at the end of each chapter.

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Starting Over;

Start of a New Beginning

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A dark weather hovered on the outskirts of Nerima ward Tokyo, Japan as it rained and poured. Our story begins on a mysterious shop, far from the rest of the business stands. Inside, a young man was about to change his life forever, for once by his own decision instead of someone else's.

"This, young sir, is the Mirror of Chaos," the old man said to the young man. The old man is the owner of the magic shop where Kuno bought the Phoenix Egg a while back. He held up a large mirror to the young customer in front of him. The mirror is shaped like an eye with a dark metal rim. The glass gleamed as it reflected the image of the youth before it. "I don't really believe it, but the story says that whoever holds the mirror can be sent to another world. However, it works only for those who have earned it."

The young man touched the glass so gingerly that you would think he is afraid it would break if he put too much pressure on it. "So this has the power to give me a new life, right?" he softly asked the proprietor as he gazed at the mirror with a slight light of hope in his eyes. He looks to be about eighteen years old and is dressed in a red silk shirt and dark, loose pants and Kung Fu shoes. His black hair is tied in a pigtail and his deep blue eyes spoke of a deep sadness just barely hidden. A large cut a little over an hour old is on his left palm and is covered by some cloth wrappings to stop it from bleeding. In his other hand he grasped the hilt of a broken katana, the blade having been snapped off a little over halfway to the tip. It is a sword of exquisite quality and there are few things in the world that could have broken it, but break it had. The deep crimson of dried blood marred its silver sheen.

The old storeowner is a little unsettled with the young man. Usually in his dealings with this young man he is full of adventure. He has always been a happy go lucky guy. Sure the young man has hit him a couple of times, but those were forgivable since he has caused a lot of problems for him. The proprietor looked at the cut hand first before staring into his eyes, just daring him to lie. "You cut yourself with that sword, didn't you," the old man stated instead of asked.

The young man's eyes looked down at the blade, remembering the events that led to him being here.

-)Flashbacks(-

_It began one night after the usual chaos in his life occurred, a very tired and very hurt Ranma arrived at the Tendou dojo. His fight with Ryoga, Kuno, and Mousse hadn't gone very well. They seemed to be getting better and better and he seemed to be losing his edge. He knew the real reason he was losing his fighting instinct was because he was tired of it all. Tired of the never-ending battles, tired of the challenges he was constantly receiving from people who wanting to fight the best, tired of all the women who seemed to think he belonged to them. Not caring what he feels about it. He just wanted to get away from everything._

_He stumbled through the door and the first thing he got was a mad Akane in his face. "Where have you been Ranma?" she demanded._

_"Ryoga, Kuno, and Mousse jumped me," he explained. "I had to dunk them in a stream before they finally gave up." Feeling he had fully explained his tardiness, Ranma moved to go around Akane. He stopped when he noticed she had the 'I'm going to hit Ranma' look in her eyes. He wondered what he had done this time._

_"So you were out fighting huh? Then what's that on your cheek Ranma?"_

_Ranma groaned. He had completely forgotten about Shampoo's kiss and apparently the lipstick hadn't come off during the fight. "I can explain that. You see Shampoo—"_

_"So it was Shampoo huh!" shouted Akane, cutting him off. "One of your cute fiancées! Why didn't you go to her with your injuries and story of being picked on by big bad Ryoga, Kuno, and Mousse you hentai?"_

_Normally Ranma would have hit back with something sarcastic and rude, but tonight he just wasn't in the mood for the bickering he and Akane were constantly engaged in. Looking down at her, he wondered if she truly thought so little of him. It wasn't like he had gone out of his way to attract fiancées and enemies, and he certainly hadn't encouraged any of them once they had shown up. Without saying a word, Ranma simply limped past Akane._

_"Where are you going now?" Akane's tone had lost a bit of its edge and was now tinged with confusion. It wasn't like Ranma to simply ignore her barbs._

_"To take a bath," he responded in a weary tone. "I'm tired and I hurt, so I'm going to take a bath and go to bed. Good night."_

_He was heading to the bath when he heard Nabiki talking to his mom who came to visit. He followed the voices to Nabiki's room and stood outside the door as they continued to talk._

_"Auntie, shouldn't you just pick a girl for Ranma to marry to end all of this craziness?" Ranma's interest grew and he pressed his ear to the door._

_"Yes, maybe I should. I was hoping that he would just pick a girl of his own so that I can finally have some grandkids."_

_"So you just want some grandkids out of him?"_

_"Yes. I gave up mothering Ranma so that the family name would have great honor to it after Genma trains him. But I never got to mother him the way I wanted to. So by getting grandkids I get to mother them all I want and then give them back to Ranma and his wife without really doing any work. If they act up it must be because Ranma is such a poor father. My son is useless except as a fighter and baby-maker anyway. As long as he gives me grandchildren I don't really care what happens to him anymore. Oh, if only I didn't have such a dishonorable son!" Ranma's anger grew at his moth...Genma's wife's words. This is woman that gave birth to him? "So which one do you think would mother the most kids for me?"_

_Ranma left for the bath to do some heavy thinking. He knows now that even his mother didn't care for him at all. All she saw in him her own son was a tool to use. It was no wonder Genma didn't want to stay with her! She's just as bad as he is! He feared this would happen, he just knew the two had to be alike! It's the only reason that made sense for the two to marry!_

_In the bath Ranma could finally think to himself. He began thinking about his life and what it was leading to. Everyone wanted something from him and no one cared about him. The only ones that ever treated him like a person were Tofu, Kasumi and Ms. Hinako, even if she does drains him. They were the only ones that cared about HIM._

_He helped Tofu to stop acting crazy every time Kasumi was near him a few weeks ago. It took a good while, but now Kasumi and Tofu are dating. He also helped Hinako stop turning into a little girl. He found a scroll in the old pervert's room that had a counter move to stop her from turning into a little girl. He had to disable her again since she didn't trust him, but now Hinako is now a full time adult. She has been treating him like a good friend since then. The two of them even meet in private to just talk! No fighting, no ultimatums, just the two of them talking and acting like they've been friends for years. No one has ever done that with him before._

_Ranma then went back thinking about himself. Despite what many people believed about him Ranma was not stupid. He was simply ignorant of a lot of things. Since the day he was born his life had been laid out before him by his parents. He was to become a man among men, a warrior whose skills and abilities would be unrivaled by anyone. He would marry the daughter of his father's good friend Soun and carry on the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. He would bring great honor to both families. He would be everybody's escape goat. He would be everybody's punching bag. He would be the one working while everyone lazed around eating the food HE bought with his money, sitting on the couch HE paid for, watching the TV HE saved up to buy, while everyone treated him like they treat Kasumi, like a slave. They may not beat her, but she's a slave just like he is. But no one had ever bothered to ask him if this was what he wanted or her for that matter. Nabiki would sell his pictures, and eventually his body, to make money while he never got any of it. Genma and Soun would keep on drinking sake and using up all the hard-earned money he made. His mother would mother his children while ignoring him. If they got too rough she would send them to him and probably say he's a bad father when he would barely even see them! Akane would continue to beat him until one day she kills him. Probably would beat his corpse too. And that's just if he stayed with the Tendos! The others are even worse._

_An even more chilling thought came to him. They would probably do this to his children as well!_

_Ranma is a fighter but only because he had never been given the chance to be anything else but a fighter. Fighting and the martial arts didn't necessarily disagree with him; it was just the constant fighting that he disliked so much. Sure he likes fighting but that was only because he never had the chance to do anything else but to fight. His knowledge of things other than fighting was limited due to the nomadic lifestyle he had lived for a good ten years of his life. Being dragged from place to place and being enrolled in a ton of different schools had done very little to help his education or social skills._

_And now he's here in Nerima, considered by many to be either an enemy or the love of their life. This was where he was supposed to spend the rest of his life, happily married to Akane._

_Yeah, right._

_This wasn't what he wanted out of his life. Because he never had any control of it to begin with. Because his life was already planned out for him before he was even born._

_Then he thought about his parents. They are the cause of all of his heartaches. Genma the fat panda is why he's the way he is now. He cared more about himself than anything else. Selling him just to feed his fat belly, not caring about what would happen later to his own son. Many of the people are after him because of something HE did. Hell, whenever Genma gets challenged he would tell the challenger to take it out on HIM! Then there was his mother, if he could call her that. She wanted the family name to have great honor to it. But couldn't she see that the Saotome name no longer had any honor to its name anymore, thanks to the man she married. And she always threatens him with that sword of hers. She cared more about honor to her family's name than her child. And now he knows that all she wants out of him is grandkids to mother the way she had wanted to do with him, as long as they don't act up. Then it would be his fault for raising such bad children! She was never a mother to beginning with the bitch!_

_Then Ranma remembered what he had read a day before about the magic shop where Kuno got that phoenix egg awhile back. A magic item that could give anyone one wish is there now. The shop owner sent him a letter telling him about it since he had heard of the various troubles he has. The others have already tried to use it, but it didn't work for them because the owner of the store said only those who have earned a wish could make the mirror work. If you made a wish and it didn't work for you the mirror would wipe your memory of the whole thing. Even the knowledge of the mirror's existence would be wiped out. It's one of the safeguards of the mirror so the failed wish maker wouldn't destroy the mirror in a fit of rage. According to the owner everyone from Akane to Cologne has tried their luck with the mirror, with no results except for a memory wipe._

_Ranma couldn't think of anyone besides himself that has earned a wish. He could wish for a new life so that he could leave this one. It wasn't his to begin with. If nothing else it would just erase a bit of his memory anyway._

_All he had to do is break all of his bonds to this life. This is it. Even if the mirror didn't work there's no turning back. 'Well, there's no reason to wait for it. I should do what I have to do. What I want to do,' thought Ranma as he got out of the bath with a grim yet determined expression on his face._

- 0 -

_Downstairs the Tendo family is having dinner. Nodoka is sitting next to her husband talking about their son. They were about to dig in when Ranma walk downstairs. He looked at them until he had everyone's attention._

_"I want you to all know that I'm leaving this house for good. I'm abandoning the Saotome name and all the honor debts that go with it." He's fully dressed and his things are all in a subspace pocket he learned from Mousse, the only good thing that ever came out of the stupid duck. Of course Mousse didn't know that Ranma had copied his technique._

_"Now see here boy!" Genma shouted in his face pointing his finger at him. He let out a scream when Ranma grabbed his finger and snap it. A brutal kick on the face made a deep cut in its wake. Genma fell to the ground lying like a broken doll with its strings cut off. Then Ranma threw an energy ball at Mr. Tendo as he was getting up. The ball of energy sent the Tendo human waterworks flying into the pond._

_"RANMA YOU JERK!" Akane shouted bringing out her hammer. She was about to bash in his head, but she felt a deep pain and saw Ranma's fist punching her HARD into her gut. She spat out blood before falling to the ground unconscious._

_Nabiki stood up and glared at him. "Ranma! How dare you!" She was about to slap him when Ranma grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground. He squeezed as she looked into his eyes. His eyes are cold, frigid. It put to shame her own expressionless mask and it made her scared._

_His voice matched his eyes. "Now you will listen to me. I will not tolerate you ruining my life. Got that!" Before she could reply he slammed her to the ground. Hard! It wasn't enough to kill her, but she will be sore for weeks._

_Nodoka pulled out her sword as she advanced on him. "Now see here son! How could you do this to our family name?" Looking at the sword Ranma felt anger, intense, raging 'I will kill you now!' anger. She cared more about her own honor than her child's welfare!_

_Grabbing her sword Ranma held it up to let her see it; "You cared nothing about me. You only saw me as a tool to use then throw away after its usefulness has run out. You were never fit to be a mother at all. I consider myself UN-lucky to have been born to you and your husband. You are just the woman who donated half of her genes to make me. I'm glad I have no siblings. They would have been ashamed as well to have you as their mother. Your ancestor would be ashamed to know you. You gave me nothing but pain, so I'm throwing everything you and your family has done to me!" In front of Nodoka's frightened eyes he snapped the blade in two. Then he drew its broken blade along his left palm, leaving a streak of his own blood from the hilt to its now jagged tip. "Take my blood as well! It has been nothing but a pain to me since your blood runs in mine!" He splashed her face with the blood dripping from the gaping wound. By doing this he has effectively declared that he refuses to acknowledge her as family. The breaking of the blade and the throwing of blood has made him a ronin. A wanderer. One with no family. Good!_

_Looking down at her now pale face he scowled. "You never cared for me but as a way to have honor and have grandkids to mother the way you never did for me! It YOUR fault since you were never was there for me! YOU are the one who let Genma take me away! YOU are the one to ruin this family! Genma may have been the one to make those deals and make those thefts and such, but he wouldn't have made even half of them if YOU hadn't let him take me away! You say you want grandchildren? I will NEVER let you touch my children you bi from hell!"_

_He turned towards the front door and walked away, leaving a gaping and frozen woman in his wake. He still held onto the broken sword as a reminder of why he left this life for good. As he got to the door separating him from the outside world he saw Kasumi waiting for him._

-)End of Flashback(-

Then he looked at the old man's eyes; "Yes. I left my old life behind. I had to leave behind my blood as well to do it," The grief his eyes conveyed is enough to melt even the most cold-hearted man.

The old man did not stand a chance. He is greedy, not heartless. "Well, here is something to keep that sword from rusting." The old man pulled out a green colored sheath from behind the counter. "This should do it." He hesitated for a second before adding, "Free of charge." It is the least he could do. Never in his whole life has he met a person so deeply distraught. Having traveled around the world before settling down he had met a lot of people. None of them carried the sadness the young man before him did. It looks like his very soul is dying. Only the stubbornness to keep on living is keeping his very spirit alive.

The young man is a bit surprised, but after a moment he takes it in stride. "Thank you very much sir," the young man said as he bowed deeply from the waist. The old man became intrigued as the words and the action is foreign to the young man. In fact, from his previous encounters with the young man he was expecting him to have poor grammar and horrible manners, not the young man who speaks very well and shows respect to is elders. He watched as the young man first cleaned off the blood, then sheathed the broken sword and strapped it to his back. "So, how do I use this mirror anyway sir?" Weird as it sounds the young man seemed to be switching personalities, as if revealing a side of him the public doesn't know about. The old man brushed it off though and proceeded to tell the young man how to use the mirror.

"Hold it up to your face and ask the mirror to take you somewhere else. However, it only works for the ones that it picks to work for. I do not know how it chooses or where it would send you."

"That's good enough for me." The young man held the mirror to his face for a long time, caressing the glass and trying to steel himself for what he is about to do. There is no turning back if this does work. He closed his eyes and though about what he would be leaving behind. He thought about what has happened to him today, what he has gone through for so long. He thought about the people he would be leaving behind. Finally, he spoke.

"I wish to start my life over, where I can be the master of my own destiny. One where no one can choose my path for me and where I can finally find . . . happiness." He spoke from the heart, and the mirror responded.

A bright light beamed out from the glass, hitting him and making his whole body glow brightly. "Thank you," he said as a lone tear made its way down his face.

That's the last thing the old man heard before the pigtailed man vanished in the light and the mirror dropped to the floor, miraculously not breaking. Picking up the mirror the old shopkeeper looked at it as if seeing something besides the mirror. "Well my boy, I hope your new life will be better than this one." He went to put the mirror back in storage.

-) Somewhere in the middle of a forest (-

A humanoid wearing traditional shaolin monk attire with a straw hat covering his face was sitting on top of a rock, meditating as he sat in a lotus position like a Buddhist as his paw like hands were placed in front of him. The humanoid keep breathing slowly in and out while he muttered;

"Inner peace . . . "

However, his meditation was suddenly interrupted as a light appeared in the sky, shining brightly as a star. Quickly rising to his feet, the humanoid looked up to the sky only to see the star glow brighter as it caused him to shield his eyesight with his hat while the star came down and crashed landed a couple of feet away from his position. After the light had receded the humanoid barely lifted his hat to see the smoke that was coming from the crash site and without second thought he ran to investigate as to what could have caused that light.

It didn't take him long to reach the site as he jumped out of the bushes and gasped when his eyes landed on the site before him. In front of him was a small crater that looked like the size of a rhinoceros and wondered what could have made such an imprint as he slowly walked towards the crater with caution, but then he noticed a figure at the bottom of the crater and curiously, the monk leaned forward into the crater to get a better view. The monk raised an opened his eyes in surprise when he noted a white lion cub with, no older than 5 wearing a tattered red Chinese shirt and kung fu pants, laying down at the heart of the crater, with his hand wrapped in a bloodied cloth and a sheathed katana laying close to him.

"Where did you come from little guy?" mused the monk as he took off his hat, revealing the face of a white wolf, - wrinkles around his eyes signifying that he was quite old - as he climbed down the crater to kneel beside the boy and inspect the boy for any signs of life as he checked his pulse. Letting out a relief sigh when he felt a strong pulse, but quickly frowned when he saw the cub's hand had deep cut on his right hand; "Looks like you're going to coming with me young one, since I can't leave you out here by yourself," muttered the wolf monk as he placed his hat on his head and picked up the sword to strap it around his back. Then as carefully as he could, the monk lifted the cub up in his arms and began his trek back towards the village he resided.

Upon arriving at his village, many of the villagers stopped their daily activity to bow at the monk with respect while some stared at the young cub in his arms with curiosity. The monk returned the gestures of the villagers and continued to walk within the village till he reached his home on top of a small hill. Once he stepped inside his home, the wolf monk had the local village doctor come take a look at his young charge, glad to hear that the kid just needed to rest and that his wound on his hand would heal without much of a scar. Once the doctor had left the monk's hut, the wolf made sure that Ranma got plenty of rest and clean bandages on his hand. A day has passed by after the monk had found the kid in that crater and began taking care of him, waiting for him to wake up while the monk meditated on the floor of his hut but the monk didn't had to wait long for he heard small groans as his guest began stir and slowly opened his eyes, deep blue staring right at the monk with grogginess as he stood on his feet and slowly approached Ranma.

"Well now, glad to have you back in the world of living, young one," said the monk with a bit of humor as he placed his hands inside the sleeves of his robe, observing the cub as he stared at him with dumbfounded look on his face. The wolf monk just raised an eyebrow at Ranma; "You do know that it is impolite to stare, right?"

Ranma stupidly blink his eyes a couple of times before he let out a scream and backed to the wall behind him while pointing at the monk;

"A talking wolf!"

The monk just stared at the youth with raised eyebrows; "Of course I'm a talking wolf, what the hell did you expect me to do, howl?"

"You're damn straight that's what you're supposed to do! Animals can't talk!" shouted Ranma with a pointing finger . . . until he finally took notice of the appearance of his hand;

"_What the hell . . . ? White fur and a paw like hand with sharp claws . . . ?_" thought Ranma as he examined his hands and the rest of his body, not noticing the elder wolf watching him with extreme caution and curiosity. His curiosity grew when Ranma looked to the left, where he had a mirror mounted on the wall and quickly noticed his body going rigid and shaking fearfully when Ranma saw a white lion cub staring back at him. He was truly unprepared on to what was about to occur next;

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO ME!" shouted Ranma on top of his lungs franticly as he jumped to his feet on top of the bed and inspected himself, "How did this happen?" shouted the former pigtailed martial artist as he touched his face, ripped his shirt open only to see white fur trailing down the rest of his body but what really got his eyes glued to the mirror was the extra appendage that was happily wagging behind him; a white long tail with a patch of black hair at the tip of the tail.

Ranma was in shock. He looked like a cat and he wasn't freaking out . . . . Then another thought occurred to him; He was cured! Not only cured of the neko-ken but had a second chance to live his life! He could not believe that he was a kid again as he examined his body again, although a bit physically different and calmly this time and looked again around his surroundings and noted that he was in a different place from where he made his wish.

"I'm cured of the neko-ken . . . My wish came true . . ." whispered Ranma in some profound happiness as he sat down on his bed and hugged himself with his eyes closed and tail wrapped around him protectively. Sadly, he forgot that there was someone in the room as he freaked out and began muttering to himself.

Hearing what the kid said, the monk got even more curious as the youngster's claim. Making sure not to startle the young cub, the monk gently coughed in his hand, gaining Ranma's attention, as he was reminded that he wasn't alone in the room. Silently cursing his slip up, Ranma figured that now he had to tell the ma-errr wolf in front of him the truth, hoping not to scare the old monk;

"_Can't do much 'bout it now. He already heard what I said,_" thought the former pig-tailed martial artist.

"What wish is that you speak of child?" asked the wolf monk with a soft gaze as he sat down on the floor in a lotus position; "And do not be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you. I just simply wish to know of you".

Feeling the sincerity in his words, Ranma gave a heavy sigh before he introduced himself, "Thank you for your hospitality. My name is Ranma, I don't have a last name anymore for I left it along with my past in order to start a new life, and if you want, I'll tell you 'bout it if you kindly can tell me where am I?"

Before the old monk could reply, someone had walked in unexpectedly, causing both of them to turn at the entrance of the hut. A female Chinese mountain cat dressed in a light blue traditional Chinese female clothing that showed a body of a fighter, (**A/N**: pants and shirt) carrying a tray of tea cups and tea pot, -freshly made for the pot was steaming still from its top- had walked in and bowed to the old monk before she took another step;

"My apologies master Shamon, I didn't mean to barge in unannounced," apologized the girl with a voice that Ranma deduced she was close to her late teens and in a way reminded him of Kasumi, but he was ignored for the moment as the old monk known as Shamon simply raised his hand;

"You're fine young one. Now, let me introduce to you our sleeping guest," said Shamon as he gestured towards Ranma, "Ranma this is Shun Rei, my daughter. Shun Rei this is Ranma," The girl known as Shun Rei smiled kindly and bowed as Ranma returned the gesture in respect, "And as Shun Rei said, my name is Shamon, and as to where we are, we are in a local panda village, a day away from Gongmen City."

"_Gongmen City? Wasn't that a city that fell in ancient China?_" thought Ranma, "So that means that I'm China, correct?" asked the former pig-tailed martial artist

Shamon nodded an affirmative in response while Shun Rei sat on her knees next to her father and began to pour tea for the three of them; Shamon noticed that Ranma was struggling to keep his mouth shut; "Is there a another question you would like to ask, Ranma?"

Ranma nodded, "I apologize if my question sounds offensive, but how is possible for you to be her father?" asked Ranma, really hoping to not have offended the two of them, but Shamon just chuckled as he accepted the cup of tea that Shun Rei gave to him and took a small sip of his tea before answering;

"She may not be my daughter by blood, but I love her as she were," taking another sip of his tea while Shun Rei gave Ranma his own cup of tea, the monk continued, "Now, before my daughter came in, you were about to tell me about this life you left it along when you made your wish to start a new life."

Not having taken a drink from his cup, Ranma kept staring at his reflection on the tea and silently he closed his eyes, beginning to speak, "Originally, my full name was Ranma Saotome. I come from a different world where I used to have different appearance and animals didn't talk or act civilized, but I'm getting out of topic. In my previous life, I used to practice the Anything Goes Martial Arts since it was part of my former family's style of fighting and was taught the style since the time I could walk by my father as he took in a 10 year training trip . . . . . "and continued to tell he did, telling Shamon and Shun Rei everything that happened throughout his life. All the chaos, the pain he endured, the abuse his father put him through in his so called 'sake for the art' as he explained in explicit detail the kinds of exercises he was put through, including the neko0ken training which gained him gasps of horror and shock from the girl and a stern look on the wolf's face. But Ranma didn't stop there, he continued to tell his tale from all the betrayals he had suffered by those he called friends, how he fought for the girl he loved and only to be treated as a prize to be won, how everything in his life was chosen for him with his consent, not caring for his opinions or his happiness. However, all the atrocities he had gone through it didn't compare to the pain and betrayal he felt when he discovered how his own mother willingly gave his former father the permission to do those horrid ordeals and when he reached the breaking point when he found out what Genma's wife thought of him as nothing but a tool to give her grandkids and thought of disowning him after his usefulness had ended, to the point of he when denounced his name in blood.

"That's the gist of it," finished Ranma as he looked out the window with a dead look in his eyes.

After listening to his story, Shun Rei wasn't able to hold back the tears anymore as she got up and reached out for Ranma to wrap him in a tight, protective hug, sobbing uncontrollably on his shoulder. Shamon, however, he silently raged on the inside after having listened to Ranma's story, being unable to stomach the monstrosities that that sorry slob that was his former father did without much of a guilty conscious. And to a child no less! But what really got his blood boiling was how his own mother allowed such bestiality to occur so she could just throw her son away as if he were yesterday's trash in the end.

Controlling his anger as did a couple of breathing exercises, the old monk closed his eyes pensive on the situation at hand. The kid . . . . No, the man in front of him had gone through hell and back and managed to barely keep his sanity with all the hardships he went through, and he couldn't just abandon him either. Opening his eyes, he saw how his daughter hugged the lion cub protectively in her arms while rubbing gently his back, frowning at the confused yet lifeless look in his eyes;

"_From the look he has in his eyes, I can easily tell that he has never encounter this kind of affection before,_" thought the monk as he let out a sigh, "_But as farfetched his story sounds, I cannot detect nothing but pain in his words,_" to watch Ranma, thinking of a way to help him out, then suddenly an idea popped into mind, and a grin appeared in his face.

"Ranma," started Shamon as he got the former pig tailed's and his daughter's attention as he stood up to his feet, placing his arms behind him, "it's a lot to take in, with your claim of coming from another world, but I can tell the truthfulness of your words and if you allow me, I would like to help you."

"Help him how father?" asked Shun Rei as she shifted her position, sitting behind Ranma as she wrapped her arms around his small waist.

"For one, he needs to know the terrain so he won't get lost, along with learning the history and rules of our lands, but also what I want to offer –which the decision is entirely up to you- is training."

At this, both (Shun Rei's and Ranma's) eyes widen in surprise, but the young martial artist eyed the old wolf cautiously;

"What's the catch old man?" asked Ranma with suspicion while hope shone through his eyes, but Shamon shook his head;

"There's no catch, I just simply wish to train you and if you allow me, pass on my teachings to you," replied Shamon with no hint of deception, "Making you my heir to my style."

"But what makes you think that I'm worthy enough to learn from you or not abuse your teachings?" asked Ranma with surprise clearly written on his face.

"I listened to your story and I could feel every emotion you held within you as you spoke, but when you spoke of the art, I could feel the pride, the hardship, the struggle you went through to be the fighter you had become," replied the monk looking directly into Ranma's eyes, "And I know you won't abuse what I plan to teach you, for you're a man of honor despite of despicable parents that gave you life."

Ranma's eyes began to tear up in happiness. For he now had a choice on how to live his life without others having to choose from him. Feeling a squeeze on his abdomen, he turned back to Shun Rei, seeing her nod in encouragement. Making his decision, he turned towards Shamon as he waited for an answer;

"I accept . . . Master," replied Ranma with a bow of respect. Then he raised his head to look at his master; "Master . . . I wish to be called by a different name instead of my birth name."

Shamon slowly got up from his kneeling position, feeling his old joints pop as he stood on his feet and placed his hands behind his back, his attention still on the young lion;

"So my young pupil, what is it that you wish to be called?"asked Shamon (3)

"Leonidas(1)," replied the former pigtailed fighter, gaining a nod of approval from his master;

"A strong name," commented Shamon. Wordlessly, he turned around and walked towards the exit of his home, but stopping before he walked out as he turned towards Leonidas, "Now yu should rest, for tomorrow we shall begin your training on Eijuuken(2)" and with that, he walked out of their home, leaving Shun Rei and Leonidas alone.

"You should listen to Master Shamon, he is very strict when it comes to training," said Shun Rei as she let go of Leo's waist and scooted to the edge of the bed, but Leo gently grabbed her by the forearm, causing her to look at him in confusion;

"Shun Rei . . . could you please stay with me?" asked Leo with a hint of fear on his voice. Shun Rei's eyes soften when he asked her to stay with him while in the back of her mind, she cursed those who hurt him in his previous life;

"Yes, Leonidas, I'll stay with you," answered Shun Rei softly as she again sat behind him and wrapped her around his waist, pulling him against her chest as she rest her chin on top of his head and began to sing a lullaby;

_**Ahummmmm**_

_**Ahummmmm**_

_**Ahummmmm**_

_**In the jungle, the mighty jungle**_

_**The lion sleeps tonight**_

_**In **__**the jungle, the mighty jungle**_

_**The lion sleeps tonight**_

_**Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh**_

_**Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh**_

Leonidas's eyes began to feel heavy as he listened to Shun Rei's singing;

_**Near the village, the peaceful village**_

_**The lion sleeps tonight**_

_**Near the village, the peaceful village**_

_**The lion sleeps tonight**_

_**Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh**_

_**Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh**_

Shun Rei slowly got out of her position and slowly laid Leonidas down, but the young lion didn't want to depart from her embrace as he tried to reach out with a hug. However, Shun Rei gently pushed him down and softly placed one of her fingers on his lips;

_**Hush, my darling, don't fear, my darling**_

_**The lion sleeps tonight**_

_**Hush, my darling, don't fear, my darling**_

_**The lion sleeps tonight**_

_**Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh**_

_**Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh . . . . . (4)**_

Shun Rei just watched as the young lion finally fell asleep as he soundly snored. Shamon sat right outside his home in a lotus position, listening to Shun Rei's song as he thought of the young man that had suddenly appear in his life;

"_After many years of searching for a worthy pupil, I have finally found one to carry on the legacy of Eijuuken, this young man named Ran - . . . No Leonidas is destined for great things and something tells me that you will go far, my boy,_" thought the old master Shamon with a smile as he looked across the village at the setting sun behind the mountains. . . .

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Annnnndd, Cut!

I would like to thank madhat886 in letting me use some paragraphs from his work in order to help me get started on this fic.

A/N:

Leonaidas means lion's strength in Greek (or so says the google, lol) and two, I like the name, sounds bad ass.

Eijuuken is a style of fighting from the anime Shaman King

Shamon is a character from Shaman King as well, which is the practitioner of Eijuuken.

And lastly, the song has a small role later on the story and the idea came to me when I was watching Lion King with my baby cousin.


	2. Chapter 2

Hope you guys liked the first chapter of the story. Now before you guys begin to read the story, there's one tiny detail I would like to say. The story begins at the beginning of KP 1, but the first chapter does have a purpose later down the road, thus why there's a huge time gap between the first chapter till the beginning of the story. That being said, here's the second chapter of the story;

Ranma = Leonidas

( # ) – A/N will be explained at the end of each chapter.

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Enter the

Dragon Warrior

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A lone figure was walking down the road as he neared the Valley of Peace. His features could not be seen for he was covered by a black cloak and an oversized straw hat (A/N: think of the Akatsuki cloak and straw hat from Naruto) with a traveling pack hoisted over his shoulder. His destination becoming visible as the entrance to the village could be seen from a mile away. The figure slightly raised his head, revealing a cat's mouth wearing a smirk as he gazed beyond the village's gates;

"This place hasn't changed a bit since my last visit," said the figure as he stopped a couple of feet away from the main gate and reached for his hat to take it off, revealing a masai lion's face covered in white fur and a white mane, his ears standing out due to small patch of black hair at the tip of his ears as they stick out of his mane. Piercing blue eyes watching the villagers go about their business as they roamed beyond the gate. Smiling softly, the masai lion placed his hat back on before he resumed walking towards village;

"I wonder how Po's been doing since my last visit."

Yup, Leonidas the white lion had arrived at the Valley of Peace.

-) 0 (-

Within the village, at a certain noodle shop, there was a lot of noise and rumbling coming from the second floor. Looking inside, there was a panda bear wearing worn brown shorts with socks and sandals scurrying around his room, trying to make it look neat as possible without damaging any of the merchandise he owns of the furious five, especially being real careful when he cleaned his window where he had his most prized possessions; the actions figures of the furious five.

"Today's the day!" shouted the panda with uncontained excitement

"PO!" someone shouted from downstairs, "You're late for work!"

"I'm coming dad!" shouted Po back as he rushed downstairs, stumbling on his own feet as he ended up rolling down the stairs till he crashed on the last floor face first;

"Sorry dad," mumbled Po as he got up in a crouch, due to the place being too small for Po to fully stand

"Sorry doesn't make the noodles, son," countered the goose, Mr. Ping, back before he shook his head, "But anyway, what has you in such an exciting mood Po?"

The panda couldn't help but grin at his father;

"Today is the day dad!" said Po as he prepared the bowls for the costumers

"Day of what?" asked a confused goose as he stopped cutting the vegetables and looked at his son, making Po looked at his dad in disbelief;

"Come on dad! Today's the day that Leo comes back to the valley and stays with us for good this time," reminded the panda as his dad widen his eyes before he looked to the side with a distant look in his eyes;

"And I can't wait to show him the awesomeness of my kung-fu from all the practice I've done!" proclaimed Po as he stood up suddenly, only to hit his head on the ceiling;

"Ow!"

Shaking his head, Mr. Ping resumed cutting the vegetables and placed them on a bowl of noodles;

"Po, sometimes I wished you drop that silly notion of wanting to learn kung-fu and think about taking over the restaurant when I retire, just like I did when I took over from my father and my father took over from his father, who won it over a game mahjong" said Mr. Ping as he passed out the readied bowls to the hungry costumers, to look at a distraught Po

"But dad, didn't you ever want to do something else besides noodles?" asked an exasperated panda. Mr. Ping stayed quiet for a while before he turned back towards the table to keep cutting the vegetables;

"Well, when I was young and crazy, I had thought of running away and making tofu," admitted the goose. Although, to Po it made no difference, he pressed on;

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because it was a stupid dream," said the goose as he threw the knife into the cutting wood and softly looked at Po, "Po, we all have our place in the world. Mines here at the restaurant," gesturing at the stand, "And yours . . ."

"I know, it's here," finished Po with a roll of his eyes

"No, it's at tables 2, 5, 7, and 12," said Mr. Ping as he threw the bowls of noodles at Po, only to catch them in mid air with his long arms while his dad wraps an apron around Po's waist. Sighing, Po walked out of the kitchen while trying not to spill the orders as he walked through the narrow spaces between the tables and maneuvering around the costumers. Unfortunately for him, one of the kids that was horse playing wasn't paying attention as he ran into Po from the side, causing him to throw the bowls into the air.

Po looked up into the air in panic and before he jumped on top of a table to catch two of the bowls on each hand, another on the top of his head and catching another on the top of his knee. Seeing that another bowl was out of his reach to catch, he extended his foot forward to only be barely able to catch it in his instep. Po let out a sigh of relief until he counted the number of bowls he had in his possession, noting that he was missing one;

"_Wait a minute . . . . I'm missing one bowl, where's the last one,_" thought Po until he began to hear a faint whistling sound. He looked up to see what was causing that sound only to have his eyes widen when the panda saw the last bowl free-falling onto the ground. Po closed his eyes as he waited for the sound of a bowl breaking . . . . and waited . . . . and waited . . . . annnnddd nothing. Slowly opening one of his eyes, he saw that the bowl was floating. Opening both of his eyes, he saw that the bowl was being held by a sheathed katana. Following the sheath, he saw a cloaked figure wearing a big straw hat was the owner of the sword.

Po let out a heavy of relief; "Hey buddy, I owe you one. You saved my hide from being nagged by my dad for wasting noodles."

The cloaked figure just chuckled as he reached for his hat and took it off. Po's eyes widen when he recognized the white mane right away;

"I see that you have improved since I last saw you, Po," said Leo as he smiled at the panda.

Mr. Ping was preparing another bowl for his next costumer as he kept cutting the ingredients, humming happily until he cringed when he heard the sound of bowls breaking and a loud shout;

"LEO!"

Looking out from his kitchen, the chef goose could see his son Po bear hugging a white lion. The white lion's face was clearly in pain since Po sometimes couldn't control his own strength. Mr. Ping smiled when he saw his son's friend/mentor comeback, but all of that was forgotten when saw all the bowls he had given Po broken on the floor and shouted;

"Po!"

Both Leo and Po looked at the goose and both could tell that he wasn't happy with Po;

"Uh oh, I'm in trouble," muttered Po as he let down his friend. Leo just chuckled as he picked up his stuff he had dropped to the ground when Po caught him by surprise with the hug;

"Don't worry about it, I'll pay for the bowls," said the former pig-tailed martial artist-turned-lion, "Now, would it be possible to eat some of your father's delicious secret recipe noodles, I've build up quite an appetite."

"You're gonna eat us out of supplies aren't you," deadpanned the panda, causing Leonidas to scratch the back of his head sheepishly

Back with Mr. Ping, one of the costumers approached the cook;

"Mr. Ping, who's he?" asked a pig, "Never seen a white lion before."

"He's my son's friend and teacher," answer the goose, "He's been a part of his life ever since Po was able to walk, mentoring him whenever he was in town."

Both of them saw the interaction between the panda and the lion, as they laughed and talked at the table they had sat down.

-) 0 (-

At the top of Jade Mountain, a large, elaborately-designed and sacred palace that overlooks the Valley of Peace on and can be seen for hundreds of miles. It is known to be a symbol of justice, honor, and courage in the world of kung-fu. Within its walls, an old red panda was playing a soft tune on his flute as he rested on a tree, unaware that five figures were eyeing him in hopes of catching off guard in the most opportune moment of their strike. When the red panda played the last note, all five stalkers struck at the same time, however, the red panda was able to sense their attack before they even reached him. He blocked and he parried each of their strikes with his flute, easily maneuvering around their attacks without wasting much energy as he fought back with little effort. The five attackers kept trying to overpower their target, but their efforts proved to be futile as the panda seemed to be one or two steps ahead of them . . . . . then suddenly, all of them came to a stop, all them breathing hard except the red panda standing in the middle of his attackers. The five attackers turned out to be a crane, a mantis, a viper, a monkey and a tiger. The furious five, protectors of the valley of peace. The red panda was none other than their master, Master Shifu.

Shifu berated each of them individually, telling them what was that they were lacking, but his lessons were interrupted by a messenger who had arrived to report that the grand master wished to see Shifu;

Shifu rushed towards the hall of warriors, where his master was awaiting him. The servants opened the door once they caught sight of Shifu, who ran past them and skidded to a stop and calm down to control his breathing before addressing his master;

"Master Oogway, you summoned me? Is something wrong?" asked Shifu with concern and respect.

In front of him, a large tortoise shell stood on top of a staff and slowly, balancing itself before the tortoise began to move as he slowly climbed down his staff while addressing the panda;

"Why something must be wrong in order for me to see my old friend," spoke the old master tortoise, confusing Shifu;

"So . . . nothing's wrong?"

"Well . . . . . I didn't say that either," replied Oogway as he slowly walked towards the candles and began to blow them out . . . . . one at a time, taking a deep breath while looking at Shifu, whose eyebrow bean to twitch. Not wanting to waste anymore time, the old panda made a thrust with his palms, using his chi to blow the candles out;

"You were saying," Shifu addressed his master

"I had a vision . . ." informed Oogway as he turned to his friend, "Tai Lung will return."

This news made Shifu's heart skip a beat as his mind went back in time when Tai Lung had raged throughout the valley after being denied.

"That is impossible! He's in prison!" remarked Shifu. Oogway just looked at him with an 'all-knowing' look;

"Nothing is impossible," replied the old tortoise only to watch Shifu act like a headless chicken as he began to bark orders to make sure that Shifu's former student doesn't escape;

"One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it," wisely told Oogway with Shifu following after him;

"We have to do something! We cannot just let him march on the valley and take his revenge! He'll . . . he'll . . ." countered Shifu with panic unsure of what to say next. The tortoise just let out a sigh as he shook his head and turned towards the pond within the hall;

"Your mind is like this water my friend, when its agitated, it becomes difficult to see," then slowly, the old master placed his staff on top of the water and lightly touched, causing a ripple in the water, showing the reflection of a dragon holding a scroll in it mouth, "But if you allow it to settle, your mind becomes clear."

"The dragon scroll. . . ?" whispered Shifu as he and Oogway looked at the scroll.

"It is time," announced Oogway

"Are you sure master?" asked the red panda with some doubts. The old tortoise looked his old friend with certainty;

"Yes Shifu, if Tai Lung is to be defeated, a candidate must be chosen," said Oogway as he closed his eyes and lightly bowed his head, a single thought running through his head, "_Since the only master of being able to defeat Tai Lung was Shamon of Eijuuken, but he died 20 years ago and there hasn't been any signs of his successor since Shamon's passing._"

-) 0 (-

Down at the valley, Leo chose to leave his cloak behind, revealing black loose kung pants with a red Chinese vest as he strolled through the market until he suddenly covered his mouth as he sneezed;

"Someone must be talking about me," muttered the former Saotome. His ears began twitching when he caught the mutters and whispers of a gathered group of villagers inspecting a poster that was recently placed on the wall of the stand. Curiosity gaining the best of him he went to investigate as to what the commotion was about, politely maneuvering through the crowd;

"Hmmm . . . . That's interesting . . . . a tournament is going to be held in order to chose one of the five as the status of dragon warrior," muttered Leo as he read the poster, "And the event is happening at the Jade Palace."

"I wonder if they as good as the rumors make them out to be," mused Leo only to wince a little when he felt a kick in the shin. Looking down, he saw a cute little bunny dressed in a girls outfit, glaring at him as if trying to intimidate him while holding a stuffed tigress in her hand;

"The furious five are the best! No one can't beat them, especially tigress!" proclaimed the little girl.

"Su!" scolded the mother and then turned towards Leo with a bow; "Please, forgive my daughter, she didn't mean any harm."

Leonidas simply chuckled, "It's alright ma'am, no harm done," then kneeled to one knee to look into the little bunny's eyes with a smile, "And forgive me, I didn't mean to bad mouth them."

"You better!" proclaimed Su, only to have her mother gasp in shock, "SU!"

Leo waved his hand dismissively without taking his eyes off the little girl, indicating that it was alright;

"You sure don't show any fear don't you? Just like your idol, Master Tigress," said Leonidas with a small smile

The little bunny beamed at his praise as she hugged her toy, "Really!"

He just nodded his head, causing the girl to shout in glee. Su's mother giggled before grabbing her daughter's hand, "Alright Su, say good bye or we are going to be late to see the tournament."

They both began to walk with the rest of the crowd as they headed towards the palace with the little girl waving at him, "Bye mister!"

Leo waved back as he watched the retreating family with a small smile on his face. Once they were out of sight, he shifted his attention towards the top of Jade Mountain, where the palace and the house of the Furious Five resided, staring at it with a sad look in his eyes;

"_So that's the place that was once your home, wasn't it . . . Master Shamon,_" thought Leo as he remembered his late master and father-figure. Shaking his head out of memory lane, he began to follow the crowd, at a normal pace while everyone else was rushing towards the palace, as they all trekked towards the mountain and up the stairs of the mountain;

"Damn . . . that's a lot of stairs," muttered Leo a bit winded but only to stare amazed at the sight of the palace as he entered the gate, his annoyance for the stairs long forgotten, "The paintings sure do little justice in portraying its beauty," muttered the white lion with awe.

The former Saotome saw that the sittings for the spectators were getting filled quickly as some of them had to stand on their feet. Looking around, he saw a perfect spot to watch the whole tournament without being disturbed and without much trouble, he jumped at the wall to use it as a spring before he jumped again to only to land on top of the roof of one of the buildings in the arena. Getting comfortable, Leo sat in a lotus position with his arms crossed, eyes closed and tail waving side to side in a slow pace, awaiting for the tournament to start. Then out of the corner of his eye, he caught the sight of two figures walking down the stairs of the palace, an old red panda conversing with an older looking tortoise;

"I'm guessing that would be Master Oogway that Master Shamon told me about," muttered Leo as he eyed Master Oogway, then he turned his sights on the old red panda, eyes narrowing slightly, "And if my guess is correct, that must be Shifu?"

Both masters were conversing till the tortoise simply walked ahead of the red panda and stood at the platform that was in between two dragon statues, addressing the people as the villagers bowed in respect towards the master. The red panda quietly walked beside the tortoise and the tournament went underway as the gates of the palace began closing and the drums began to play, causing the people to cheer;

"Let the tournament, BEGIN!" and a bong was heard, causing the crowd to roar in excitement.

Shifu stepped forward and began to speak;

"Citizens of the Valley of Peace! It is my great honor to present to you, Tigress! Viper! Crane! Monkey! Mantis! The Furious Five!"

And from different corners, the Furious Five jumped into the air as they did their aerial maneuvers, surprisingly not seeing the white lion on top of the roof as they came down and skillfully landing without much making a sound onto the ground. Each doing a series of katas till they all ended in a formation with crane floating in the air before he hoisted himself a bit higher in the air and flapped his wings to create a gust of wind, causing some of the people trying not be blown by the current. Leo simply felt the wind hit him, unmoving from his sitting position and unblinking as he watched the event;

"_So these are the furious five, maybe the rumors weren't exaggerated then,_" thought the former Saotome as he eyed each of the masters with calculating eyes

"Warriors! Prepare for battle!" announced Shifu. Crane was the first one to step up as a makeshift dragon arrived into the arena, a door sliding open as it revealed a lot of missiles . . . a lot of firing missiles at Crane as he took off into the air, skillfully dodging every missile that was launched at him. Flying higher into the air, it looked like the bird was trapped as there was a missile coming at him every direction he looked, until he spun around fast enough to create a mini whirlwind to protect himself from the missiles, exploding against the currents;

"Not bad," praised Leo, "a bit flashy though."

Unaware to Leo, Po had arrived to the gates of the palace just in time to watch them get closed on his face, but he was resilient enough to try and not miss the tournament as he tried many ludicrous stunts in order to enter the palace;

He tried punching through the door, Bruce Lee style . . . . . only to cry out in pain as he writhed on the ground, clutching his hand.

Then the panda tried jumping the wall using a long pole . . . . . only to back fire on him as he was launched into the wall, cracking it in the process. Leonidas's ears twitched and looked around when he heard the sound of stone cracking, but found nothing. Shrugging his shoulders, he resumed watching the tournament, seeing that Mantis was done and next was Viper . . . . . with a gymnastic ribbon . . . .

The former pig-tailed Saotome felt a shiver go down his spine when saw the ribbon, suddenly being reminded of insane Kuno girl;

"I hope this one isn't as insane as Kodachi . . . ." muttered Leo

But back with our favorite panda, he was trying to catapult with the use of a bamboo . . . . but that didn't work so well either, since he was too heavy for the bamboo to launch him and being the genius that he is, he got off the bamboo branch, only to get smacked in the face as it went up and to get smacked on the head as the tree came back down. All the while the villagers cheered for the performances.

Po had a defeated look as he sat on the steps of the mountain, but his resolve was reawakened when he heard master Shifu announced Master Tigress's turn to perform against the iron Ox and the blades of death.

Po tried the catapult idea again, except this time, instead of a bamboo tree, he planned on using the tree as he brought. On the other side of the gates, Leo watched the tiger prepared to fight against a mechanical ox that had four axes waving around at fast speeds, but she didn't look worried as she kept stretching. The white lion couldn't help but stare as he began to feel entranced by Tigress's beauty and when she began to fight; her movements looked soft, yet powerful. Graceful, yet powerful. Beautiful, but deadly.

But Leonidas shook his head when he heard Po's voice and turned to the right, just in time to see Po fly across only to hear a loud crash, unaware that Master Oogway had closed his eyes and pointing towards his (Leo's) direction.

"Po?" muttered Leo with his right eyebrow twitching and mouth slightly dropped as he watched where Po had disappeared, but then he grew semi-serious as he slowly turned to his left . . . only to see Master Tigress standing there, with her arms crossed and a serious look on her face. Then looking towards the arena, he noted that everyone's attention was on him, including Shifu's and Oogway's, as the latter was pointing at him.

"What?" asked Leo

"Who are you?" demanded Master Tigress

"Who me? I'm just an spectator that wanted the best seats to enjoy the show," cheekily said Leo, but his answer only irritated Tigress more, while Monkey snickered at Leo's response from the arena floor;

"Enough games! Now, who are you really and what is your purpose here?" demanded the feline master again a bit more forceful as she got in her tiger stance

Leo simply just stared at her with a bored expression, "So much for thinking she was cute, damn uncute tomboy."

And his response was loud growl coming from her throat.

"I said that out loud didn't I?," stated Leo only to receive a menacing nod from Tigress before she launched herself at him with the intention of ripping his head off, "Me and my mouth."

Tigress threw a punch but it only hit the tiles of the ceiling, creating a hole as Leo had used one hand to do a back flip, "Can't we talk about this?" he asked, leaning back to evade a round house kick aimed for his head, "What the hell did I ever do you, besides provoking you a few seconds ago?" parrying a right punch, "Will you stop trying to kill me already! It's annoying the living hell out of me!" only to parry a left swing from her left and jumped off the ceiling via back flip as he avoided a following spinning kick, landing in arena ring;

"I'll stop attacking after I pummel you into the ground!" shouted a very frustrated Tigress as she gave chase;

The spectators continued to watch, not knowing what to make of it. However, the rest of the masters were watching with a keen eye as they saw the white lion block or parry Tigress's attacks with little effort while making it look as if he was having some difficulty.

"Psst, Mantis, a bag of almond cookies that white lion's gonna win," whispered Monkey at his companion to his companion;

"Ha ha, you're on! Knowing Tigress's anger, that fella is gonna be turned into a rug," boasted the miniature master.

Behind them, they heard a hiss as Master Viper slithered between Monkey's legs;

"I'll add a wager to your bet boys," hissed Viper with a smirk, "That lion gets beaten, but not by Tigress's fists and the loser has to do the winner's bidding for a week."

"Deal!" both said at the same time, not noticing Viper's 'i-know-something' smirk. While they were conversing, they didn't notice Oogway watching with interest at the young lion;

"_Hmm . . . could he be the one that Shamon spoke of in his letters,_" thought the tortoise with curiosity as he kept on observing the bout between the two felines.

Back with the fight between the two cats, Leo was still on the defensive against the feline master until he slightly turned to the left and grabbed her outstretched arm and used it to block the right punch as he raised both her arms into the air, putting her in a 2 in 1 situation as it left Tigress with her abdomen exposed. Thinking he had her as he was about to strike only to block a knee strike with his free arm, trying to figure out how to get out of this mess;

"_She's good, but I need to end this quick,_" thought Leo, thinking of ways to get out of the situation, only to get his prayer answered when Po was launched into the sky with use of rockets used for fireworks. Everyone stared in amazement at the fireworks including Tigress, despite her predicament. Seeing her distracted, he quickly sent a palm thrust into her exposed mid section, slightly knocking the wind out of her as she stumbled back but not before she did a moonsault kick but was unable to hit her mark as Leo jumped back in the last minute;

"You are always this violent, aren't you?" stated the white lion only for his answer to be surrounded in the middle of the arena by the furious five. Sighing, Leo simply slid into a boxer's stance with his right hand sticking out like a beggar and his left folded behind him, "Why is it that everyone chooses the hard way."

None of the six masters made a movement, unaware of the growing shadow that kept growing as it got closer to the ground right where Leo was standing. Said master began to notice the big shroud hovering over him and looked up, his ears flattened and simply mutter two words;

"Fuckin' shit . . . ."

Before Po landed on top of him, his world going black.

-) 0 (-

Po began to stir as he opened his eyes, his vision blurry when he saw the furious five. Closing his eyes again as he tried to focus his sight while turning, only to end up looking at Master Oogway pointing at him;

"Oh! Oh ok, sorry" apologized the panda, "I just wanted to see who the dragon warrior was."

Oogway just chuckled, "My apologies, but I'm not pointing at you . . . but rather, underneath you."

Sitting on his butt, Po scratched his head as he pondered; "Underneath me . . . ?" then he looked down beside him, noticing a white paw sticking out from underneath;

"LEO!" shouted Po as he quickly got up and saw his mentor sit up abruptly, gasping for air as he coughed a few times.

"You need to lay down on the noodles Po," wheezed Leo as he slowly stood up, still feeling light headed from the sudden lack of air, only to turn at Master Oogway's finger pointing at him, "Um . . . Why are you pointing me?"

"How interesting," said Oogway, ignoring Leo's question.

"Master Oogway, are you pointing at me?" asked Tigress, who stood behind Leo, causing him to turn at her and then back at Oogway;

"Him," confirmed the tortoise. Leo just looked at the pointing appendage as he moved from side to side, Oogway's finger following suit.

"_I don't like where this is going_," thought Leo with dread

"You," said Oogway as he used his staff to lift the lion's arm, "The universe has brought us the dragon warrior."

"WHAT!" said Leo and Po

"WHAT!" said the furious five

"WHAT!" said Shifu

A gong was heard and everyone cheered for their new dragon warrior while Leo had a stupefied expression on his face. Attendants carrying a litter rushed down the steps and lifted their new champion into the elegant vehicle and properly carried him up the long steps, while he still wore the same expression on his face, into the Jade Palace.

Meanwhile, Shifu was having a discussion with his master;

"Master Oogway! Wait! That mangy lion can't possibly the solution to our. . . . problem," said the red panda although whispered the last part, "You were pointing at Tigress before she got engaged in battle against that oversized, fur-ball!"

"Tigress's kung-fu does far exceeds those within the five," agreed the tortoise, causing Shifu to smile, believing that his master had seen reason. However, that wasn't the case, "But that young lion's fighting ability surpasses Tigress, as you just witnessed when the two fought."

"But that was just an accident! Tigress got distracted when that fat panda was lit up in fireworks!" exclaimed an exasperated Shifu. The furious five remained in their bowed positions, even after Leo was no longer in front of them, being nosy about the conversation between the two masters.

Oogway just turned to his old friend with an all-knowing grin, "Shifu . . . . . There're no accidents. There's more to our young friend than he lets on, but you'll be able to see that only if you let go of your bitterness . . . . otherwise, history will repeat itself in the same way it did with Shamon," that had shut Shifu up and wordlessly walked away, leaving Shifu alone with his thoughts and pupils.

A few feet away, Po stood there as his mind had shut down when he heard that his teacher was chosen as the Dragon Warrior. Suddenly, his mind began to re-boot as it comprehended what had just happened;

"I can't believe it! Leo is the dragon warrior! That's SO awesome!" proclaimed the panda as he followed the rest of its citizens to see the new dragon warrior being dropped off at the main building of the palace

-) 0 (-

Within the Hall of Warriors, the doors creaked as they were opened, the carriers carrying our favorite ex-pigtailed-gender-changer as he yelled at them to put him down, although it fell on deft ears as none of them listened and was rudely dropped off into the floor face first. Lifting himself off the ground, Leo turned around in time to see the carriers leave as they closed the doors shut.

"What the hell did I get myself into this time," mused Leo as he turned around and stared at the revered hall located within the main part of the Jade Palace. A place that was said to have been built along with the Palace nine hundred years ago in honor of Master Oogway for creating Kung Fu. This prestigious hallway was made to honor and commemorate the memories of fallen heroes who upheld the teachings of Oogway and used Kung Fu as a force for good . . . or so he was told by his former master. Then something caught his eye in the far corner of the hall. His curiosity peaking, he walked down the hall, not minding the most revered items in kung-fu as his eyes laid upon a statue made of marble of someone he recognized right away;

"Master Shamon," whispered Leonidas as he stared at the statue of his deceased master. The statue stood in the primary Eijuuken stance with a fierce gaze as he wore the traditional kung-fu gear (**A/N:** pants & jacket)

"Have you finished sight-seeing?" a voice echoed through the hall, causing Leo to look at the source only to find Master Shifu with his students standing behind him, sizing him up as he were a mere commoner while some had an indifferent look, making Leo mentally groan in his mind;

"_Here comes the bull-shit,_" thought the former Saotome dryly

"So . . . you're the legendary dragon warrior?" asked Shifu mockingly, already annoying the white lion

_"Definitely not liking him already_," were his thoughts, "Why? Just because the old tortoise said so," said Leo sharply, causing the furious five, especially Tigress growl in anger towards the lion;

"You will show Master Oogway and the rest of us respect!" proclaimed Tigress

"Respect is earned not demanded little kitty and I'm showing him respect in my own way, but I sure as hell don't respect him," claimed Leo as he pointed at Shifu, "I could give a two shits of what he has to say since it's visible in his eyes that he doubts his Master's words when he preaches that he trust's his wisdom, damn hypocrite," his eyes narrowed angrily, causing some of the five to flinch, while Shifu and Tigress returned the glare;

"You don't deserve to be called the dragon warrior! We both know that I had you beaten until your fat friend caused that distraction," growled Master Tigress, making Leo narrow his eyes dangerously at her as his eyes shined with anger

"How about a deal, lion," said Shifu, "We can settle this argument outside with your fists against Tigress and prove that indeed you're better than her and remain here in the palace."

"And I'm guessing that if I were to lose you wish for me to relinquish the title of dragon warrior to Tigress and leave the valley," guessed Leo without taking his eyes, only for the red panda to nod his head;

"That is correct."

Without much of a word, Leo turned around as he went for the doors of the hall and walked out of the building. Shifu smugly believed that the lion had shown his true colors as he went for the door to close the doors only gasp. His students heard his gasp and rushed towards the doors to see what surprised him, only to see the white lion stand in the middle of the pathway;

"Why look surprised Shifu," said Leo, "I never turned down a challenge before and especially an attack against my honor, so let's get this over with."

Tigress walked down the stairs to stand across from her opponent and wasted little time as she assumed her tiger stance while Leo simply stood there with his arms at his side;

"Well? Aren't you going to fight," goaded the tiger but she didn't get no response which only aggravated her more. Back with her teammates, they couldn't help but have a feeling that Tigress was about to go down . . . hard;

"Is it just me or this guy has a different feel from before," asked Monkey which got a nod from Crane

"Yea, he suddenly became real serious, unlike his earlier lazy/playful demeanor," shivered Mantis while Viper stared at his eyes;

"And those eyes don't have that warm feeling anymore," pointed out the reptile, causing the rest of them to look at the lion's eyes and sure enough, those eyes didn't had the friendly gleam anymore. Those eyes were the eyes of an experienced warrior that had seen hell and lived it;

"_Tigress bit more than she could chew this time,_" thought the four in union.

"Are you both ready?" shouted Shifu, receiving a nod from the two, "Then . . . FIGHT!"

Not wasting any more time, Tigress rushed at Leo with the intention of finishing the fight with one blow as she jumped in the air to drop a heel drop kick aiming at his head, smirking triumphantly as she saw that he wasn't doing nothing to defend himself as she got closer for the hit, until . . . . . she didn't it coming.

A kick had landed on her midsection. The rest of the furious five and Master Shifu couldn't believe it as they saw Leo stretched his leg high in the air right into, delivering a kick into Tigress's stomach as he stood on the tip of his foot on the other leg. Tigress began to levitate slowly of his foot till the full force of the kick sent her sailing into the air till she came down onto the ground hard, clutching her stomach in pain while Leo stayed in his position for a few seconds till he slowly brought his foot down and stared at the tiger without any emotion;

"Eijuuken . . . Huo Jian Jiao," whispered Leo

He watched as Master Shifu tended his adoptive daughter while the rest of the five came rushing towards her as well. Without saying a word, the young lion began to walk away leaving them to tend for their downed comrade.

-) 0 (-

Nighttime be felled on the mountain and on a hill of the mountain, the peach tree of heavenly wisdom resided with our young lion sat there, on top of a rock as he contemplated his situation, enjoying the quietness that it had;

"I see that you found the peach tree of heavenly wisdom," an old, sage voice snapped Leo out of his trance and turned around to find Master Oogway walking up the stairs to the hill;

"Master Oogway," said Leo as he bowed in respect

"Quite the show you put on today, my young friend," praised the old tortoise, "But what was most intriguing was the little bout between you and Tigress after the tournament."

Leo flattened his ears at that, "You saw that, huh."

"Yes I did," admitted the old master, "So tell me young Leonidas, how was it to be trained by Shamon in the Eijuuken style?"

Leo just smirked softly at that as he returned to gazing down at the valley, "You knew already, didn't you."

Oogway shook his head as he took a peach from the tree, "I had my suspicions, but after seeing that kick, i knew right away the style of kung-fu you use," then Oogawy had a slight grimace look, "And it wasn't hard not to recognize the same kick that almost made a hole through my shell years ago."

Leo grimaced as well when he nodded in conformation, "Master Shamon almost broke me in half a couple of times with that kick whenever sparred.," said Leo, "And after each session, he would treat my wounds and instruct me on my mistakes and came to master it as time went on."

"Shamon always had a soft heart," remembered Oogway, "Hard to believe that someone as kind as him would create such a deadly style," then he looked at Leo's eyes and noted a small tear forming in the corner;

"You miss him don't you," he stated.

The young Lion nodded.

Both didn't say anything after a while till Leo broke the silence;

"Master Oogway, why did you chose me as the Dragon Warrior?" asked Leo as he stared at the old master's eyes

"You ask me this because of something that had happened in your past life," stated Oogway causing Leo to flinch, "So I guessed correct, something did occurred in your previous life."

"Master Shamon told you about me, didn't he," stated the former Saotome. The tortoise nodded his head. Sighing, Leo answered, "I don't know where to begin."

"The beginning is always a good start . . . Ranma," recommended the master using his real name and so, Leo told his story. After finishing story, Oogway thought about what he just heard and offered him a smile;

"There's an old saying, 'Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift.'" Wisely said Oogway, "That's why it's called the present, but the question is how will you be living your present? Living it in the past as you were reminded of being put in a situation without your consent? Or, make the best of it and see what tomorrow it shall bring."

Leo took the words to heart as he watched the old master walk back towards the palace, leaving Leo by himself with his thoughts.

-) 0 (-

Tigress was resting in her room, long after she was dropped off by her teammates after the bout she had with Leo, tending more her injured ego than her damaged ribs;

"_If you can call a match that is,_" she thought bitterly at being easily defeated, but her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a knock on her door. Painfully, she tried to sit up;

"Come in," she said weakly, only to growl in anger when she saw the person that put her in this state, "What do you want!"

Leo just raised his hands up, "First of all, I didn't come here to pick a fight," he began, "I came here to apologize for not handling the situation better and putting you in this condition."

Her anger had gone down just a little bit, but not that much, "And why should I believe you?"

The lion just reached into his vest and threw a bag at her, catching it out of reflex, "Inside that bag is a paste. Rub it where it hurts the most and it'll heal almost overnight," he instructed, "But anyway, I'll go and let you rest. I don't want to over stay my welcome."

Then he left her room, leaving Tigress as she stared at the door the white lion had walked out of and then stared at the bag he had left her, leaving her puzzled.

"Just . . . who are you?" muttered Tigress to herself

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Annnnndd, Cut!

Another chapter done and glad to see that you guys liked this story as well. I do apologize if I made Tigress look like a complete bitch, but that's how it begins when you want to build couples. (Well most of the times)

Stay tuned for the next coming chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

The third chapter of this story is up, now things start to get interesting.

Ranma = Leonidas

( # ) – A/N will be explained at the end of each chapter.

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Tai Lung Escapes!

Oogway's Final Lesson

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Far from the Valley of Piece, at the outskirts of Magnolia, a prison that was carved out of the most inaccessible peak of the snow-blasted Tavan Bogd Mountains for more than 20 years resided there, with its sole purpose was to hold the one prisoner that had almost razed the Valley of Peace to the ground, only to be stopped by Master Oogway. It had been designed as the most formidable gaol ever built; complete with elaborate and deadly defenses and self-destruct mechanisms with as well a maze like pathway from the top to the platform where the prisoner was being held.

But anyway . . . . after Oogway had a premonition of Tai Lung's return to the Valley, Shifu sent the palace messenger; Zeng, to warn the guards at the prison and to strengthen its security, not knowin that this decision would come back to haunt him later. After Zeng had arrived to the stronghold and delivered the massage, the warden Commander Vachir was outraged, protesting that escape from Chorh-Gom was nigh impossible as he showed the messenger goose around the fortress, presenting the prison's current securities as well as the bound and motionless prisoner himself, Shifu's former student, the snow leopard, Tai Lung. Believing the leopard to be helpless, Commander Vachir, mocked the leopard as he blabbed about someone else receiving the dragon scroll, something he failed to take by force and did nothing to strengthen the defenses of the prison as he was told.

The messenger, believing he had seen enough and not wanting to stay there any longer, suggested to go topside, but while Zeng and Vachir were returning to the prison's entrance, one of Zeng's feathers (which had fallen off of him earlier) floated next to Tai Lung, who then used it to pick the lock on his restraints using his tail and successfully breaking free. Despite being imprisoned for 20 years, Tai Lung's strenght didn't wither away as all of the guards' efforts and the various defenses the prison held, Tai Lung still managed to craftily dodge and fight his way through each of them, eventually making his way to the entrance and literally blasting his way through the guards and door;

On the outside of the stronghold, everything seemed fine, until a sudden explosion burst the gates to pieces, with Zeng and some of the guards being sent flying out as they landed in front of the now destroyed gate. As Zeng tried to slowly get up to his feet and fly away as fast as possible, he wasn't able to due to the snow leopard grasping his neck and looking directly in his eyes, making the goose gulp for dear life, since behind Tai Lung, the prison that once held him was destroyed with fire dancing around inside, making Tai Lung look like the devil himself had walked out of hell;

Taking a deep breath as he finally tasted freedom, he spoke;

"I'm glad Shifu sent you. I was beginning to think I had been forgotten," said the leopard calmly as he petted the goose. Then suddenly, he held a menacing look in his eyes, "Now I want you to deliver MY message. Tell them . . . . . that the REAL dragon warrior is coming home and anyone that crosses my path . . . . will perish!"

Zeng rapidly nodded his head as he was released by Tai Lung and wasted no time to fly back, desperate to get away from this evil incarnate.

-) O (-

Morning had arrived in the valley as the light of sun began to shine over the village and the bell of the temple was rung;

"Good morning master!" greeted the five as they rushed out of their rooms, except one, which was Leo's room as it remained closed. Shifu felt a headache forming already;

"Lion!" shouted Shifu, but no answer. The rest of the five looked at one another as they got ready for war, in case their master were to attack since he still was in a foul mood after the lion defeated his student/daughter with a single kick, "LION!"

Again no answer. Already frustrated, Shifu walked pass the five and opened the doors forcefully only to let out a satisfying chuckle as he scanned the room;

"He's quit," announced the red panda, causing the five to gape in shock minus Tigress. Although she was glad that he left . . . . a part of her felt bit sad for some unknowing reason as she slowly brought her paw to the spot where Leo had kicked her, remembering his apology from last night along with the paste he had given her as proof and true to his word, after he left her room, she applied some to the spot where it hurt and now, she could barely feel any pain.

"Tigress!"

She was snapped out of her thought when her adoptive father called her name, noting the stern but concern look in his eyes as he eyed her;

"Does it still hurt?" asked her master, "Do you wish to rest for the day?"

Tigress just shook her head, "I'm fine Master Shifu, I can still train."

Shifu stared at his step-daughter for a minute before he nodded and instructed the five to follow him as they trekked up the stairs to reach the gates of the training hall's outdoor training courtyard and opened to go inside only to gape in surprise when they saw the same panda that had landed on the dragon warrior on the day of the tournament, practicing the forms of Zi Ran Men (1).

"Panda! What are you doing here!' demanded the red panda, causing Po to jump and turn towards him;

"Master Shifu!" said Po with flatten ears but then bowed at the old master and then looked at the five, "Whoa! The Furious five! You're so much bigger than your action figures," then looked at Mantis who rested on Monkey's shoulders, "Except you Mantis; you're about the same size."

That comment made the bug twitch. The red panda smacked his face with his hand in frustration as he stared at the larger panda.

The furious five were discussing among themselves while they watched Shifu berate the panda;

"Isn't that the same panda that knows the dragon warrior," whispered Monkey

"Yea, that's him alright, but the question is, how the panda knows Leo," whispered Mantis

"It doesn't matter how does the panda know him, he doesn't belong here," remarked Tigress with her arms crossed

"That's kind of harsh Tigress, especially when he didn't do anything for you to hold such animosity," said Viper softly, knowing of her friend's anger issues

"That's fine and dandy, but still doesn't answer what's he doing here?" Crane asked his comrades, but the answer came from beside him;

"He's here for two reasons," answered Leo as he leaned against the wall, then looked at Tigress, "I see the paste healed you quick, good to see you back on your feet," Tigress just nodded her head at him without much of a word, "But back as to why he's here. Reason one; I asked Master Oogway if I could bring Po with me, being my student and all. Two; he's a better cook than that goose you guys have in the kitchen."

"He's your student?" asked a very surprised Viper. Leo nodded;

"Yes he is and I would appreciate it if you stop harassing my student Shifu," forcefully said Leo as he got off the wall and walked towards Shifu

"Lion! You of all people should know that this is a sacred place, not some sort of tour attraction," growled Shifu with a glare

"Are you hard of hearing you old coot! He's my student!" growled Leonidas back, glaring right back.

"Why I oughta . . ." growled Shifu as his glare intensified

"You ought to do what!" snarled Leo with a glare of same intensity. Shifu only snarled before he leaped at the lion with the intention of ripping his head off.

Po and the five huddled together, except Tigress as she tried her best to hide her slight fear, nervously of being caught in the crossfire as they slowly and quietly tried to reach the door behind them as they watched the two masters were going at each other's throats, as the sounds of punches and kicks being blocked along with the yells and grunts;

"Eh . . . shouldn't we stop them from killing each other," suggested Po as he nervously took a step back and watched Leo blocked with his hand a nasty finger strike to the neck;

"I think we should let them handle it on their own," gulped Crane while Monkey and Viper nodded their head vigorously as they now watched Master Shifu block with both his forearms a strong kick aimed at the midsection.

"But if you wanna step in, be our guest. We'll make sure to revive you after they try to kill you for interfering," said Mantis nervously, making Po reconsider his suggestion as he saw Leo jump into the air to dodge a leg sweep and counter with a vicious heel drop kick, creating a Shifu size crater as he missed his intended target;

"Good point," muttered the panda with Tigress mentally agreeing with Po as she now watched her master delivering a fury of bicycle kicks but only for them to be blocked as Leo launched a fury of punches to block the kicks and at the final strike, a fist and foot collided, creating a ripple that caused both masters to jump a couple of feet away from each other, still maintaining their heated glaring contest;

"I've had enough of your disrespect lion!" snarled Shifu as he got into his stance

"Do something about it . . ." growled/dared the former Saotome as he got in the Eijuuken stance; standing in what seemed to be a boxers stance with the legs a little more further apart to the side, a bit hunched over with his right arm being placed closer to center with his elbow slightly bend pointing upward with a sideways beggar's hand as it protected his upper body while he placed his right arm in the same manner, but instead of pointing upward, it was pointing slightly down, protecting the lower half of his body. (2)

Shifu continued to glare but it lessen as he felt a struck of similarities when Leo slid into his stance, until a distant memory resurfaced in his mind;

-) 0 (-

**Tai Lung bursting into the Hall of Warriors**

**Three masters were prepared for combat**

**A red panda & a white wolf rushed to intercept the leopard . . .**

**But the red panda was defeated first.**

**White wolf slid in his stance, waiting for Tai Lung's first move . . . .**

**To brutally beat him into submission. (3)**

-) 0 (-

Shifu's eyes widened as he finally recognized the stance as he saw a ghostly figure shadowing Leo;

"Shamon . . . ." muttered Shifu then quickly he shook his head, "How do you know that stance?"uncertainty clearly visible in his voice

Po and the five were confused at the stance Leo had slid into and were more confused at the sudden change of Shifu's demeanor.

"You should know, for there was only one Master that knew it," responded Leonidas, causing Shifu's eyes to widen before he looked down with down casts eyes and flattened ears, wordlessly walking away into the training hall.

Leo slid of his stance as he stared at the doors Shifu had walked into, but was punched hard in the jaw before he was grabbed by the scruff of his vest by Tigress, forcing him to look at her;

"What did you do to him?" demanded the tiger, but Leo kept his silence as he closed his eyes. Growling, Tigress tightened her grip, "Why do you even stay here if all you do is cause pain."

Roughly, she let go of her vest and stormed off into the hills, leaving Po and the rest of the five alone with Leo. Po, worried for his friend, carefully approached his teacher as he poked his fingers nervously;

"Master Leonidas . . .?"

Opening his eyes, Leo turned towards Po, noting the concern in his eyes; he smiled softly as he placed a hand on his shoulder;

"I'm fine," said Leo as he quietly passed by Viper, Crane, Mantis and Monkey.

-) O (-

Later during the day, Leo was practicing inside his room without his vest, throwing kicks and punches as he practiced the sets. Then slowly he brought his right hand in front of him as he slowly breathed in and focused on his energy, creating a thin aura of energy around him. Slowly closing his extended hand, he brought it back while extending his left hand in a palm thrust, focusing all of his energy into his right hand as the aura around him receded into his fist. Leo then slowly opened his hand, the energy cloaking his hand as he got ready to thrust his hand out but a knock on the door interrupted him and lost his concentration as the energy dispersed;

"Come in," announced Leo and to his surprise, it was Master Tigress who was behind the door as they were opened, "You're not going to hit me again are you?"

Tigress just narrowed her at the lion, "As tempting as it sounds, no. I simply came here to talk to you."

"And what is it that you want to talk about?" asked Leo as he grabbed his vest and put it on, leaving it unbuttoned.

"What do you have against Shifu?" asked the tiger

"Straight to the point, aren't you?" commented Leonidas humorlessly with a raised eyebrow.

"Enough! Now answer the question," growled the master; "_He's so frustrating!_"

"Tell me . . . what you know of Master Shamon?" asked Leo while buttoning his vest, making Tigress blink in confusion;

"Shamon of Eijuuken? What does he have to do with anything?" she asked, resuming her glare. Leo simply looked at her;

"Answer my question and I promise on my honor to answer any question you have with the honest truth," countered Leo. Sighing, Tigress answered;

"Legend has it that Shamon of Eijuuken was once a former student here at the Jade Palace many years ago. He trained under Master Oogway and alongside Master Shifu since they were young. Always driven to be the best as he went from scroll to scroll of kung-fu, but felt that none of the styles were suited to him, for each lacked a certain trait and so he chose to create his own. With Master Oogway's blessing, he began to experiment by mixing traits of the other styles and slowly it began to take form. After ten long years of studying, from trial and error, he created a style that was gentle yet fierce, subtle yet solid, naming it Eijuuken. Master Shamon wanted to prove its power and potency by challenging Master Oogway to match of honor that would prove if his efforts were wasted or fruitful. The fight was to be supervised by the 29 masters of kung-fu, who were curious about Shamon's Eijuuken, including Master Shifu himself. While some believed that it was blasphemy and wanted to see the Master Shamon fall. The match lasted almost three hours and the masters were awed at the display of skill Master Shamon possessed despite the loss he suffered, but that didn't matter to them, for they had seen something that many masters had failed to do and that was to match Master Oogway blow for blow with deadly precision. Then and there, the masters acknowledged Eijuuken's power and granted Shamon the title of Master. However, one day, Master Shamon suddenly disappeared after . . ." Tigress was cut off by Leo;

"He had defeated Tai Lung and was sentenced to a lifetime in prison," finished the lion, causing Tigress to gasp;

"How do you know that?" asked Tigress

"Master Shamon and Shifu were closed, almost considered brothers and it was after Tai Lung was defeated and sentenced that everything changed. Shifu's heartache from Tai Lung's betrayal and guilty failure for not being able to save Tai Lung from the path he had chosen made him very bitter, so bitter that it clouded Shifu's judgment and blamed Master Shamon for it," told Leo as he stared at Tigress in the eyes.

"Shifu raised Tai Lung as he were his son! Loved him like he had never loved anyone before and it broke him seeing his son become the monster that Shamon locked away," countered Tigress as she stared back into his eyes, neither one saying a word.

"You love him as if he were your father, don't you," stated Leo softly out of the blue, without breaking eye contact with her

"Yes, I do," replied Tigress without hesitation, "And he had a chance to make things right, to train the true Dragon Warrior . . . but he's stuck with you . . . a heartless bastard that can't seem to take this seriously as you constantly put Shifu down."

Leo said nothing as the master of the Tiger style stormed off out the room.

"Shifu must've have saved you from your own form of darkness if you go to these lengths to defend him," said the former Saotome in a low voice but still hearable enough as Tigress stopped at the door. Not waiting for her response, he continued, "You're lucky; I didn't know how it felt to have a father till Shamon found me."

Tigress slowly turned around and saw Leo sitting on his bed with his head down and elbows resting on his knees.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Tigress and saw him lift his head to stare at her in the eye;

"My birth father was a slob that exploited me, sold me and would have willingly killed me if it meant to save his sorry carcass and my mother only saw me as a mere tool to continue a legacy that had no honor thanks to my father," explained Leo gaining a gasp of shock from Tigress, "Shamon found me and raised me as his own, that was when I found what it felt to be loved, to have a family."

Tigress's eyes lowered as she began to remember her time when her parents had abandoned her at the orphanage. Left her all alone with no one to rely on, no one to play with since the kids and patrons at the orphanage considered her a monster, but Shifu saw through her and gave her hope to later turn to love when the Master had adopted her, finally giving her someone to love and rely upon, even if Shifu himself was still hurting from Tai Lung's fall. Tigress closed her before she reopened them again, this time staring at Leo;

"What made you decide to tell me this?" she asked him softly and saw him smile softly at her;

"Honestly, I don't know," was his reply

"Shamon was your father as well as your master, wasn't he," she stated as she walked towards him, unsure as to why she did this and sat down next to him;

"Yea . . . he was," responded Leo. Both didn't say a word as they both looked at the floor, each own to their thoughts.

"How did you meet Shifu?" suddenly asked the former Saotome as he slightly turn his head to look at her.

Tigress didn't know whether to answer his question or blow him off and walk out of the room, but these past few days were very confusing to her when it came to the white lion. Even now, it didn't help her much as he had shared with her something that was very personal to him and it made her feel something she couldn't put a paw on, but ignoring it for the moment, she took a sigh as she turned to Leo;

"Like you, I didn't feel a parent's love for mine had abandoned me in an orphanage . . . ." began Tigress as she told him of her past and unknown to the two, a bond of companionship was made between the two felines that had rough life but both found some sort of happiness in the end.

-) O (-

Back with Master Shifu, he hadn't left the training hall since he first entered it after his confrontation with the dragon warrior. The red panda couldn't help but feel guilt as he saw his friend's visage on the young lion, washing over him as he remembered how he had put the blame on his friend after Tai Lung had been stopped. Trying to get a hold of himself, he felt that meditation was the best solution and lit up some candles and sat down as he began to meditate, trying to find his inner peace, but had no success what so ever as he spent the whole day trying to find his inner peace. Already frustrated, the red panda twitched his ears as he began to hear flapping sounds getting closer and closer in frantic. Shifu turned around just in time to see Zeng drop into the ground in fatigue, the words that came out of his beak not making sense;

"Zeng! Calm down and tell me what's wrong," said Shifu, feeling dread forming at the pit of his stomach

The goose was still wheezing as he tried to catch his bread before he looked directly at Shifu in the eye;

"Tai Lung has escaped!" shouted Zeng, causing Shifu to gasp in shock, "And he's coming to the valley!"

Shifu wasted no time as he rushed out of the hall to look for Master Oogway as headed towards the hill with the peach tree and sure enough, Oogway was there practicing a form of tai chi;

"Master! Master! I have very bad news," said Shifu with urgency

"Ah . . . Shifu, they're just news, there's no good or bad in them," said Oogway calmly as he turned around

"Master! Your vision! Your vision was right, Tai Lung's broken out of prison and he's on his way," said the red panda in panic.

Master Oogway looked at Shifu as if he were to have a heart attack;

"That is bad news," commented Oogway before he smiled softly at Shifu, "If you do not believe if the dragon warrior could stop him."

"The lion, master!" replied Shifu with disdain, "That fool doesn't have any regards as he just spits at our teachings! He's just an accident that wasn't meant to happen! He isn't supposed to be here!"

"Is it because he reminds you of Shamon," asked the tortoise calmly while closing his eyes, making Shifu choke on his words for once and then;

"You knew that Leo was his apprentice, Master?" asked Shifu

"Yes I did," admitted Oogway as he reopened them and looks at Shifu softly

"Shifu . . . young Leonidas may seem as a strong individual, but within him, lies a cub who is still mourning and he won't be able to fulfill his destiny if you aren't ready to make peace with him. Shifu, he needs you more than you think, but only if you're willing to listen," said Oogway as he walked to his friend and placed a paw on his shoulder

"But how can I reach him Master! He won't listen to me, I need your help," pleaded Shifu as he felt like a lost child

"Just believe in him Shifu, believe in him," wisely advised the master then pleadingly, he look at Shify, "Promise me Shifu that you'll believe in him just like you used to believe in Shamon."

"I . . . will try to Master," said Shifu with uncertainty

"Good," said Oogway looked up as he began to feel the wind picking up; "My time has come," then looked at Shifu, handing him his staff, "You must continue your journey without me."

"Wh-wh-what . ." muttered the red panda in disbelief as he watched his master walk to the edge of the hill, following him after him, "Master . . . you can't leave me!"

The wind began to pick up a bit more as the sakura petals began to scatter around Oogway as he turned around and faced his old friend one last time, his body slowly turning into sakura petals;

"You must believe . . ." were Oogway's final words as he bowed to Shifu and slowly began to disintegrate as the petals were scattered by the wind as Shifu watched with saddened eyes the passing of his master . . . .

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And Cuuttt!

I know that there wasn't pretty much any fighting within this chapter, but I can assure you, the confrontation between the Tai Lung and the Dragon warrior is coming soon. Anyway, here's a couple of things that I wanted to post so you guys could have a better understanding of what I was trying to put

A/N 1: Zi Ran Men is an actual form of kung-fu and here's the link in case any of you are interested to see how its forms are: http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=xp8ONMxu_zs or the title for the youtube video: Liu He Zi Ran Men (2008) just replace the '(dot)' with the actual ( . ). A/N 2: I tried my best to describe how the stance looked like but in case many of you feel that I didn't do a good job, here's the link for that: http:/www(dot)mangareader(dot) A/N 3: It was just an attempt to show a scroll like presentation like in the movie, let me know what you think. Lastly, I apologize to my readers for not updating these past couple of months, but recently I haven't had the will to write due to a writes block on Four Dragons. The story is more than halfway done, but I hit a wall which is slowly cracking, and with my grandmother who just recently died of cancer, I haven't been able to think straight on what to write. So again, I apologize. The updates will come, but not sure when. Thank you and god bless. Kyu no Ken 


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